The disclosure relates to footwear, particularly the specialized type of footwear used in conjunction with an external appliance such as a snowboard, wakeboard or other sports apparatus.
There are many desirable characteristics for the design of footwear used in sports applications. The foot is desirably protected from impact, the highly mobile function of the foot is desirably supported to some extent while still allowing desired movements, and the footwear often desirably provides engagement surfaces for the attachment of appliances such as snowboard bindings and boards.
The three dimensional nature of the human foot necessitates that such footwear be formed into a complex shape. This is often done at the manufacturing level by stitching flat panels together or molding three dimensional panels and joining them into an enclosing form. This yields an outer structure for the piece of footwear that is more or less continuous and unified in nature.
When flexible materials such as leather and synthetic sheets are thus formed into three dimensional shapes, the structure becomes considerably more rigid. For example, a normal magazine, very flexible in nature, when rolled into a tube becomes rigid and unyielding. When a boot is closed snuggly around the foot, the same thing happens: flexible panels take on a stiffer and more supportive structure by the nature of their shaping.
In some areas of a boot this can be a desirable effect, providing enhanced support and protection for the foot. However, many activities require the foot to move throughout a certain range of motion in order for the user to maintain dynamic balance, steer the appliance, control speed or simply maneuver at will.
Typically, the materials used for the boot will be selected to achieve a desired degree of deformation to allow such function through bending or wrinkling of the structure. This type of flexation, however, tends to be unpredictable, inconsistent, temperature dependent and even uncomfortable if the shape of the boot deforms in a way that impacts the foot inside.
Disclosed is a footwear device, such as a boot, that allows mechanical flexation of the boot structure through the de-coupling of selected, discontinuous panels. While such panels may remain connected by lightweight and ultra flexible bridging materials for the purpose of sealing out moisture or contaminants, these bridging materials do not necessarily provide significant structural support. Rather, the primary support panels are allowed to move with substantial independence from one another in response to outside loads. By localizing these articulating panels and managing their relative ranges of motion, each area of the boot can be allowed defined flexibility, with minimal impact of one area's characteristics upon another. Adjacent panels may be placed next to each other in the same approximate plane, or may be overlapping with some degree of fixation between them.
Additionally, by allowing articulation between components, individual panels can be fabricated with increased stiffness for improved support and protection. Designs which rely on deformation of fixed panels for flex are limited in the degree of support and protection by the need to consider overall function of the footwear structure. Often a boot that is stiff enough for protection is too rigid for proper function. The converse is also true in that soft boots that flex freely do a generally poor job of protecting the foot and providing needed support.
As shown in the accompanying drawings, articulating panels may be located in various areas of the boot. In some embodiments, the forefoot region may be allowed a certain amount of dorsi- and plantar-flexion to facilitate walking. The ankle area of the main boot body may be allowed articulation in various directions.
An additional important component in many footwear designs is the tongue, which is normally formed into a three dimensional curve—concave over the top of the foot and in front of the lower leg, plus L shaped between instep and shin area. Considering that appliances are often attached to the boot by means of straps which bear against the tongue area, it is important for this element to offer certain stiffness and pressure distribution characteristics for the protection of the foot. The disclosed features present a means by which the tongue can provide this type of protection through the use of more rigid materials, while retaining the ability of the foot to function through a natural range, avoiding unwanted deformation that is inherent in the design of a continuous panel.
Combining multiple elements of the design to allow articulation has an exemplary benefit of providing localized support and protection where desired, while still allowing a relatively free range of motion to the user. Secondarily, this range of motion occurs without the need for kinking or other undesirable flexation of panels located adjacent to the natural articulation points of the foot and ankle. The result for the user is secure and consistent fit throughout whatever range of motion is designed into the boot.
The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Further features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.